Aphrodite Urania
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Aphrodite Urania (Ancient Greek: Οὐρανία) was an epithet of the Greek goddess Aphrodite, signifying "heavenly" or "spiritual", to distinguish her from her more earthly aspect of Aphrodite Pandemos, "Aphrodite for all the people".[1] The two were used (mostly in literature) to differentiate the more "celestial" love of body and soul from purely physical lust. Plato represented her as a daughter of the Greek god Uranus, conceived and born without a mother.[2][3] According to Hesiod, she was born from the severed genitals of Uranus and emerged from the sea foam.[4] Wine was not used in the libations offered to her.[5][6][7] According to Herodotus, the Arabs called this aspect of the goddess "Alitta" or "Alilat" (Ἀλίττα or Ἀλιλάτ).[8][9]
Aphrodite Urania was represented in Greek art with a swan, a tortoise or a globe.[10]
See also
Notes
- ↑
Schmitz, Leonhard (1870). "Urania 3.". In Smith, William. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology 3. Little, Brown and Company. p. 1284.
- ↑ Plato, Symposium
- ↑ Xenophon, Symposium 8. § 9.
- ↑ Hesiod, Theogony 188–206
- ↑ Scholiast, ad Soph. Oed. Col. 101
- ↑ Herodotus, i. 105
- ↑ Suda, s.v. νηφάλια
- ↑ Herodotus, i. 131., iii. 8
- ↑
Schmitz, Leonhard (1870). "Alitta". In Smith, William. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology 1. Little, Brown and Company. p. 132.
- ↑
Freese, John Henry (1911). "Aphrodite". In Chisholm, Hugh. Encyclopædia Britannica 2 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 167.
External links
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